The present invention relates to a vacuum vapour-deposition installation for batch-wise operation and having a valve chamber which has a suction opening for producing a vacuum, an upwardly directed first opening for vacuum-tight connection with a removable vaporizing chamber and a downwardly directed second opening for connection with an evaporizing chamber. The first and the second openings are substantially in alignment and each is surrounded by a valve seat towards the valve chamber, the installation also having a two-way valve which is horizontally movable in the valve chamber, with the two valve discs of which being movable apart.
In a vapour-deposition installation of this kind, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,206,322, two two-way valves of complicated construction are even provided, obviously because the expert had to proceed on the basis that the sealing action of the valves diminishes in the course of time because of the deposition of vapour on each of the two upper valve seats. Whereas in the known installation, the vaporizing chamber can be removed with the two-way valves closed, for the purpose of charging, without the vacuum being adversely affected on the other side of the two-way valves, this is not possible as regards the evaporizing chamber. However, the evaporizer arranged in the evaporizing chamber must likewise be provided with evaporizing material and possible cleaned, inspected and adjusted. In the known equipment this is possible only by way of the chambers for the two way valves, so that the vacuum in the entire installation must be interrupted. Thus, when the equipment is brought into operation again, not only the vaporizing chamber and the evaporizing chamber, but also the valve chambers, have to be evacuated again and this requires considerable time because of the drying-out operation that may become necessary. The charging time and therefore the productivity of the installation are thus notably reduced. Similar disadvantages also attach to the equipment disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,973.